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Sunday, February 16, 2014

A Little Too Late – But That's Okay

“I found one! I found one!” I skipped down the street, singing. “I found a penny!”

I was already on a ‘high’ from some fantastic news I had received the day before (more on that later), and this great find – a ‘lucky’ penny - only added to it all. Sure, the penny arrived a day late, but this was perfect! It was a sign.

I tucked the penny in my pocket vowing to save it FOREVER. But as I toyed with the penny secure in my pocket I realized in all this time where I had always been relying on the luck of a ‘found’ penny, maybe, just maybe, I had been wrong. I had found it a day after my ‘lucky’ day, after all.

In Canada the penny is almost extinct, and therefore finding this rare artifact on the ground is cause for celebration. I often hear folks commenting, “Hey, I found a penny! That sure won’t be happening for too much longer!”

I have always believed that a found penny means unquestionable luck to follow. But with the extinction of pennies what will happen to us – to luck – when we have no more pennies to find? The Royal Canadian Mint won’t be in the good books with us superstitious folks for too much longer.

So the fact I even found one had me all but jumping for joy - which was difficult as I nearly put-out my back and caused yet another hernia by picking up the wee bit of copper in the first place. I was happy to find one, but even happier because of the timing in relation to my good news. Finding one at all must have meant something.

But did finding it a day after my good news mean I never needed luck after all?

Is luck over-rated? Do we put too much stock in luck? Or do things like finding pennies give us, the superstitious, false hope?

I have always had a tendency to put great stock into objects that will serve me in my quest towards greater things: a lucky rabbit’s foot (I had one as a kid – wouldn’t think of owning one now), a St. Christopher and other religious charms (many from other countries and religions), lucky pennies, wishing wells, lucky hats, lucky underwear, good hair days (not an object, but a way of ‘being’), and rituals such as knocking on wood. I won’t mention how much salt I have thrown over my shoulder; I should buy stocks in a salt mine.

But as I skipped down the street, high on my secret news and checking every so often that my penny was still in my pocket, I stopped short (and almost tripped, of course). Given I had found the penny AFTER my secret news, and no objects were in ‘use’ on the day I received my secret news, does that mean I didn’t need all those talisman’s after all?

Maybe finding the penny AFTER my big news was what was needed. It served as a reminder that, although luck may have played a small part in the recent turn of events (I guess I truly won’t ever be able to let go of my superstitious ways), I need to remember to rely on me and my abilities, and have faith in what I can accomplish with skill, will and determination. Maybe I CAN do great things, one step at a time. Maybe I DO have what it takes to fulfill my dreams without trinkets, bits and bobs, and rituals galore.

Since I had found the penny the day AFTER my good news, maybe – just maybe – I didn’t need things like that in the first place. I had accomplished what I did without it.

But will I get rid of that particular penny? Would I ever part with something that would always serve as a reminder of what I CAN do on my own merit?